Be Loud and Proud
Have you ever felt scared to wear that cute pink skirt in public? Or showing your friends that new music artist you started listening to? Do you feel like you will be made fun of? People nowadays believe that expressing themselves will result in ridicule, second-hand embarrassment from others, or rejection from society. In reality, nobody cares!
These days, society struggles to please the whole world. People do this to avoid mockery or rejection from society, and their strategy for doing this is pretending to be someone they are not. These people who tend to set aside their interests, just for the sake of being likable, will not only surround themselves with people they don’t enjoy being around, but they will also find it hard to connect with others who have different interests.
“People shouldn't follow trends to fit in with others; they would be surrounded by people they don’t truly connect with,” Alec Castro, a freshman at Cristo Rey St. Viator High School shared. This constant pretending can be known as people-pleasing.
People pleasers tend to go out of their comfort zone and have a fear of telling others no. There are a variety of reasons why people pretend to be something they are not, such as trauma from abandonment, insecurity issues, or people who simply fear rejection. A poll back on October 18, 2024, asked Americans if they would consider themselves people pleasers; 48% of Americans described themselves as people pleasers. Youth, especially, have been affected by this need to be accepted and noticed in society.
Expressing yourself is significant nowadays because people can find communities they relate to and feel comfortable with; which is helpful, mentally and physically. Although it is common for people to feel worried about doing what they wish, it is not acceptable to constantly experience this worry and insecurity and resulting in pretending to be something they are not. All in all, humans are unique beings who are filled with different emotions and experiences.
Source: Yougov.com
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